Pupo, at 70, joins 527,000 Italian students for the maturità exam: 'I don't need the diploma, I need self-confidence'
Enzo Ghinazzi, known to generations of Italians as the singer Pupo, will walk into a Rome classroom on 18 June to sit the same state exam as half a million teenagers, half a century after he dropped out of school.
A return half a century in the making
Among the 527,747 students registered for Italy's 2026 maturità, the high-school leaving exam that begins on 18 June, one candidate stands apart. Enzo Ghinazzi, 70, the Tuscan singer-songwriter who has sold more than 20 million records under the stage name Pupo, will take the written and oral tests as a private candidate at the Istituto Minerva in Rome. He left formal education at 16, abandoning a scientific lyceum after two years to pursue music full-time. Now he is closing a loop that has remained open for 54 years.
Pupo is one of 14,009 privatisti, external candidates, sitting the 2026 exam. He prepared by compressing two academic years into one, twice, at a private institute in Arezzo, attending one or two individual lessons per week. Like all privatisti, he first had to pass a preliminary state exam before being admitted to the maturità proper. He enters with a credit of 32 points and needs 28 more to reach the 60-point pass threshold, though he is aiming for 80.
I know that technically it won't serve me for anything, but it will serve me to increase my self-esteem and my confidence in myself.
The personal stakes
The singer frames the exam as both a personal challenge and a tribute. His father, a postman with only an elementary education, dreamed of a university-graduate son and wanted him to become a lawyer. His mother, who died a month ago, also cared deeply about his education. Pupo has said the diploma is a gift to both of them.
Since I was born I have continually sought new stimuli and goals that give real meaning to my existence. And, until the bell rings, this will be my way of living.
His path to this moment was unorthodox. At 16 he left school after a year of ragioneria (accounting studies) and a transfer to the scientific lyceum, chosen, he has admitted, because a girl named Anna from Ponticino attended it. Mathematics was, by his own account, a disaster. He was already singing in clubs and dance halls, writing early songs, and returning home late at night. Morning classes were hard to keep.
What the exam looks like
The maturità unfolds over three components: a first written paper in Italian, a second written paper (in his case, law), and an oral examination covering four subjects, Italian, English, law, and human sciences. Pupo has told the Corriere della Sera that he feels strong on D'Annunzio and Pirandello but less confident on Calvino and Montale. The law paper he describes as tough. For the oral, he has joked that if he could add a subject, he would include poker: "You learn about waiting and suffering."
I don't boast a refined culture, but I am passionate about philosophy, literature, art. I have a smattering of everything.
He reports no exam anxiety. "I've never had it, not even for a concert at Madison Square Garden. I'm a gambler, I was born cold," he said. The night before the first paper, he plans to do "what relaxes me most: love," and will arrive at 7:45 in a blue double-breasted suit, white shirt, glasses, and a Rolex GMT Master.
What comes after
If he passes, Pupo has promised a concert inside the classroom and a big party in Ponticino, his hometown. He has also floated the idea of continuing to university. The 2026 maturità begins on 18 June across Italy with the first written Italian paper. For one 70-year-old candidate, it is less about a credential and more about proving that the bell has not yet rung.
- Pupo leaves school at age 16 after two years of scientific lyceum to pursue music full-time.
- Enrols as a private candidate, compressing two academic years into one at an institute in Arezzo.
- Passes the preliminary state exam required of all privatisti before the maturità.
- Final day of revision; tells Corriere della Sera he is 'prontissimo' (more than ready).
- Arrives at Istituto Minerva in Rome at 7:45 for the first written paper in Italian.
The privatista route
Anyone, regardless of age, can attempt the maturità as a private candidate. The process requires selecting a school that accepts external students, requesting the ministerial syllabus, and, crucially, passing a preliminary state exam before being admitted to the main examination. Pupo followed this exact path, compressing multiple years of study and sitting the preliminary exam alongside other privatisti. His admission with 32 credit points leaves a manageable gap to the 60-point minimum, and his stated target of 80 suggests a candidate who is neither complacent nor overreaching.
